Full time vet & amateur event rider

Month: August 2015

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Firstly I am highly irritated by technology! My Movie Maker has stopped accepting the videos off the camcorder so I’m afraid no videos currently… although Flicka’s show jumping and cross country from Stafford are both online now (before this error occurred… I have even tried uninstalling and reinstalling so any other suggestions very welcome!!!)

Anyhow onto the reports. Flicka did her second BE100 5yo qualifier at Homme House, our closest event less than an hour away. She performed a lovely consistent test and we were really pleased with her mark of 26.3 and some great comments. We then had a really irritating pole show jumping, which seemed to take forever to fall down after her just breathing on it! Once again she was brilliant XC, very keen and even threw in a buck between the first and second fence!! She answer all the questions and flew over fences she had never seen the like of before to finish with 1.2 time faults and 7th place. Really amazed with how she seems to have taken to eventing so well at just 15.2hh and also being the calmest 5yo out and about.

A still off the camcorder of Flicka flying XC at Homme

Somerford CIC** this weekend was Ali’s next outing and I knew it would be a demanding XC there, which is perfect to get her seeing the more difficult questions asked at this level and beyond. We travelled up early Saturday morning for dressage that day. Unfortunately I was to be really disappointed as despite working in brilliantly, she was ridiculously spooky at the lorries/horses etc. coming along the road next to the arena causing tension and even shooting across the arena at one point for her worst ever score – just so frustrating when we all know what she is capable of. Although unable to remove this disappointment from my mind (I’m sure I’ll get over it eventually), she did somewhat redeem herself the following day with a double clear and just 2 XC time faults round a track that caused plenty of problems and managing a top third finish in a field of 113 starters. I then took her show jumping at Summerhouse yesterday on my half day to trial how she would cope with a 3-day event (even though she had a hacking day in between!) – she jumped a brilliant double clear in a large 1.20m class for 4th and then a much improved round than previously in the 1.30m, just touching a couple of poles as maybe a little tired by this stage. I, and we as a partnership are feeling so much more confident in this phase now.

Ali show jumping yesterday

We now have a busy weekend coming up with both Flicka and Merlin doing BE100 at Llanymynech on Saturday, then an intermediate run for Ali at Wellington on Bank Holiday Monday.

A rather tardy report on our day at the very last running of Stafford Horse Trials – I didn’t get chance before Aston and then this obviously was top of the excitement list!! However I think we may have another star in the making… Replica (Flicka) was doing her first British Eventing affiliated event in the KBIS 5yo Qualifier at BE100 level and showed the same aptitude for eventing as her half sister (Ali)! Sue Bown’s Merlin was also competing in the BE100.

Both horses did a good dressage test. I was pleased with Flicka’s mark of 30.8 as she can still be a slightly wobbly baby at times! Merlin did a lovely soft test, which we all felt was an improvement but as often happens with dressage his mark was actually slightly lower although left him in the top few on 26.3!

Merlin strutting into the arena!

Merlin show jumped first and managed a clear but wasn’t as fluent as I’d have liked. We wonder if he wasn’t too keen on the rather hard ground. I was thrilled with Flicka who jumped a brilliant clear over her first track on grass and only having jumped at this height a handful of times. See a video of her round here.

Flicka went first XC and I’d already decided to go the long route into the water as I felt it was rather a big question for only her second event plus first time BE and at 100. Well, she flew!!! She didn’t have a clue why we went into a box and then had to canter off but soon got the hang of landing and galloping – kicking on paid off for a confident clear and inside the time to finish on our dressage score for 9th!!

Flicka flying XC

Merlin went onto the naughty step with a very cheeky stop a the rails before the water but we still felt he wasn’t enjoying the hard ground. He will have break from eventing until it rains!!

My sister was home from London for the weekend so I had my very own professional photographer for the event – see Flicka’s album here and Merlin’s here (on Facebook). I will get more videos uploaded too but unfortunately it seems to be a very slow process!! (hmm technology…)

Flicka is out again this week for another shot at qualifying in the 5yo Qualifier at our most local event just 30mins away at the picturesque Homme House. These qualifiers are so competitive though with only 1 in 10 starters qualifying for the championships at Osberton so no room for error!